JERSEY TOMATOES AND JERSEY CORN

Central Jersey residents don’t even realize how blessed they are. They live in beautiful suburbia at a commutable distance from 2 major cities, yet they can reach out and touch the Jersey fresh goodness grown right in their own backyard.

New Jersey’s Tomatoes have a national reputation as being the best in the country for their flavor, tenderness, and juiciness. All tomatoes are not created equally, and once created they are not treated equally. The huge commercial farms from California, Florida, and Mexico are grown in a much larger scale for shipping throughout the country, whereas New Jersey tomatoes are grown on smaller farms for the local market. This allows them to avoid being picked green, gassed with ethylene to give them a brighter, redder color before being shipped or being shipped refrigerated, which degrades the taste and nutrients.

We carry several varieties as some are better than others for different uses. Sliced on a sandwich, diced in a salad, cooked down for stews and sauces, try them all and choose your favorite, but don’t forget to let us know which one.

Shake off the taste of the winter tomatoes you have gotten used to, the hard, juiceless anemic ones you had no choice but to buy at your local supermarket. Jersey tomatoes are available any day now. Your summer tomato is hand-picked from the vine and lovingly placed on display for purchase at Jersey Gourmet Farm Market. Don’t worry about buying too many…the overripe ones are amazing to cook with!

The only thing better and tastier than Jersey tomatoes is Jersey corn…arriving in our farm stand in early July, possibly ready for Independence Day barbeques. Our corn screams summer! Boil it, microwave it, grill it, chill it, add it to your favorite recipes…hot or cold. You only get these tasty, sweet milky kernels for 2 months a year, feast while you can get it.

Once corn is picked, its natural sugars begin turning to starch. The process is delayed a bit using refrigeration. With non-local corn, by the time it is harvested and shipped, as much as a week may have passed. The corn will be pretty good, but Jersey corn grown locally will be amazing.

Whether you like white, yellow or bicolor, the color has little to do with the taste. The sweetness is related to the freshness. Resist temptation and never strip corn until you’re ready to cook it. Taking off the silks and the leaves removes the natural barrier, letting heat into the corn which accelerates its conversion from sugar to starch. If you cook the corn with the husk on, it is easier to remove the ‘clothing’.

You can never buy too much corn. It is best cooked as soon as it is picked, although it does stay yummy for days. You can cook it all the first day and use the cooked, roasted and toasted kernels in some amazing recipes. The internet is on fire with delicious ways to use raw and cooked corn, both hot and cold. Once blanched, sweet corn can be frozen for future use too.

Our customers tell us our corn is the best around…Aw shucks, we have to admit they are correct.